We appreciate your understanding as we go through the transition of implementing our new Point of Sale System in the cafeteria.

We understand that at times there have been interruptions in service. Please be assured that our technical and food service staff are working to resolve those issues. Thank you for your patience.
 

To provide the best possible service in the cafeteria, the District implemented a Computerized Point-of-Sale System in May of 2009. Each child in the school has a meal account that is accessed with a personal identification number (PIN). The PIN will remain the same each year. Each student will enter their PIN onto a keypad. The student can still pay cash; however, we encourage parents to prepay money into their student’s account. When sending in money by check, please include the student’s PIN #. Please make checks payable to South Orangetown CSD and have the student present the check to the cashier.

A letter was mailed on August 21, 2009 to families of our students listing their unique PIN. If you have not received a letter listing your child’s PIN please contact our Food Service Department at 845-680-1118 or Christine Clementz at cclementz@socsd.org. Please be aware that our food service personnel and school building staff will have a list of the students PINs in case your child forgets theirs.

In the Fall 2009, the District will be implementing Mealpay Plus, an online prepayment system. This system will enable the parent to make payments online through a charge made to a credit card or bank account. The parent will also have the ability to track the purchases made by their child and be notified when their account balance is low and needs replenishment. Further details will be posted to this website and communicated to parents.

Food Management Company

The District is pleased to announce the introduction of a new Food Service Management Company, Whitsons School Nutrition Corporation. Informational materials have been provided regarding the company.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Question: Can my child “charge” snacks on account?

Answer: The process by which students have purchased snacks will continue though the end of this school year. Students with prepaid accounts have only been allowed to purchase lunches - snacks have always been purchased by cash.

The new food service program has the ability to allow parents to designate monies for meals and snacks.  Parents may formally request that prepaid monies can also be used for the purchase of snacks.  This request must be made directly to our Food Service Department.

In the Fall, when the on-line account management portion of the system is made available, parents will have the ability to determine on-line whether funds are applied strictly for meals or a combination of meals / snacks.

Please note that all purchases, both meals and snacks, requires the use of the use of a PIN.



Question: Could you please explain what the system is?

Answer: The system is a computerized point of sale system where an account is set up for each student and given a personal identification number (PIN) to access this account. Parents can pre-pay in any amount to their child’s account. As the students purchase meals and a la carte food, their account is debited. All transactions are recorded instantly on a computer in the lunchroom. Any cashier can look up the student’s balance at any time.
 

Question: What are the advantages of this system?

Answer: The major advantages for the parents are that they can pre-pay for their children’s lunch without having to worry about sending in lunch money each day. They could also rest assured that the money they send to the cafeteria is used only for lunch. A student does not have to have any cash with them to enjoy all the selections in the lunch program; they just need a balance in their debit account. The account is only debited when meals or food are purchased. Remaining balances will carry from year-to-year and be refunded when a student leaves the District.

For the students, the lunch line moves faster if all the meals are prepaid. This gives the students more time to enjoy their lunch period. A debit system also helps young people learn the importance and value of budgeting their resources by keeping to a daily budget. Students also enjoy the relief of not having to be the “banker” for some of their schoolmates, they can simply say that they have no cash with them; their parents sent their lunch money in by check.

Question: Can you give us a better idea of exactly how this system works?

Answer: Each student is assigned an account and a PIN number. Their parents send checks into the school made payable to the school district. It can be in any amount and does not have to be a multiple of the meal price.

When the students select their food and come to the cashier, they enter their secret PIN number into the keypad and the student’s name, photo, available balance, and the total of their current purchase, displays on the Point of Sale terminal in front of the cashier. The cashier finishes the transaction and the student is ready to take their lunch and sit down.

If the student’s balance gets low, it will alert the cashier and a letter will be generated and given to the student to bring home for their parents to replenish the account.

There is a built in security system in that the student’s photo appears on the screen when they enter their PIN number. This way the cashier can verify the person using the account at that moment.

Also, if the number has been used that day for a meal, the cashier will be alerted that a meal has already been taken for that day.

When students go through the line, they will notice how fast prepaid transactions are processed and how much more time it takes when people use cash.
 

Lunch Nutritional Information
Nutritional Information

Elementary Schools - click here
Secondary Schools - click here

Attention High School Students & Families - You Asked and We Listened - read

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